26 MASDEVALLIA. 



shorter triangular sinus between tliem, and by their tails not being 

 parallel. It was discovered by Walter Davis on the Andes of 

 Peru, near Cuzco, and introduced by us in 1875. It was dedicated 

 to Senhor J. B. Barla, at that time the Brazilian Consul at Nice, 

 " well known for his orchidologic works, as well as for his special 

 knowledge of the Floras of Liguria and Sardinia." 



M. bella. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, 5 — 7 inches long. Scapes pendulous, 

 dull purple with an appressed bract at each joint and at the base of 

 the ovary ; ovary short, angular, blackish purple. Flowers solitary, 

 large and open, of triangular shape ; the sepals pale yellow spotted 

 with brownish crimson, the spots denser on the upper sepal, rarer on 

 the lateral two and chiefly aggregated towards the outer margin ; 

 upper sepal triangular, contracted into a long, slender, reddish brown 

 tail, 3 — 4 inches long ; lateral sepals larger, sub-rhomboidal, connate 

 to beyond the middle, and contracted into long slender tails like the upper 

 one ; petals small, obcordate, emarginate, yellow spotted with red ; lip 

 with a short fleshy claw and concave, shell-like blade, in the hollow 

 of which are numerous raised lines radiating from the claw. Column 

 very small. 



Masdevallia bella, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), p. 725. Id. XIII. (1880), 

 p. 756, icon. xyl. Fl. Mag. n. s. t. 433. BeJg. hort. XXXIV. (1884), p. 57. 



A curious and remarkable species allied to and much re- 

 sembling Masdevallia Ghimcera, but easily distinguished from it by 

 its large shell-like labellum. It was discovered by the late Gustav 

 Wallis while collecting for us in New (jlranada in 1873 — 4, but who 

 failed to send homo living plants. It was introduced four years 

 later by Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton. Its habitat is in 

 the Frontino district, near Antioquia, on the western Cordillera, at 

 5,000 — 7,000 feet elevation, where it grows under the same conditions 

 as M. Ghimcera, and sometimes even mixed with it. 



M. calura. 



Leaves oblanceolate, 3 inches long, leathery and distinctly stalked. 

 Scapes as long as the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers deep chocolate- 

 red with a blackish shade ; perianth tul)e cylindric, bent ; free portion 

 of upper sepal triangidar, prolonged into a filiform, orange-yellow tail 

 1 J — 2 inches long ; connate lateral sepals oval-oblong, reflexed, minutely 

 papillose on the inner side, with a small triangular sinus between 

 the tails, which are parallel and orange-yellow ; petals linear-oblong ; 

 lip sub-rhomboidal. Column white. 



Masdevallia calura, Rchb. in Hard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 230. 



